


The One where Pedro and Balthazar become Roommates...and More

by ImogenMoth



Category: Nothing Much to Do, nmtd
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Roommates, University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2015-04-05
Packaged: 2018-03-20 17:43:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3659349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImogenMoth/pseuds/ImogenMoth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>University. Pedro, Balthazar and Benedick are roommates…with tension and hidden crushes.</p><p>(If Beadick never said that thing about Balthazar, and Balthazar didn’t go to the apology party because he had a gig that night)<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Moving In

     The whole gang were somehow all going to universities in Wellington, well, except for Ursula who had decided to take a gap year (or several) and had already raised over $6,000 on her Kickstarter for her short film project. Balthazar was a bit sad to be so far away from her, she was in freaking Auckland, but at the same time he was full of excited nervousness to finish moving into his new apartment with roommates Pedro and Ben.

     Balthazar arrived at the door at the same moment as Pedro, was carrying a guitar on his back and a ukulele and a school-rented clarinet in his hands. Then in an extremely awkward moment after exchanging “Heys,” Pedro thought it was necessary to open the door at the same time Balth had cleared his right hand and reached for the handle. Balthazar’s ears turned red, and he stepped back embarrassed by the (what he knew were invisible) butterflies fluttering in every single one of his organs. Of course, Pedro didn’t noticed anything, opened the door and picked up Balthazar’s clarinet from the floor.

     “Oh, thanks” He muttered, mentally punishing himself. _Seriously Balth, pull yourself together! You have to live with him for fuck’s sake. Stop flapping in there, you hear me!_

     “Great…” He could hear Pedro mutter sarcastically from the inside of one of the bedrooms, and after setting his instruments down, he wandered inside. “It looks like Ben took the largest room before we even got here! Well I guess we’re over on the other side, because the other bedroom on this Ben’s side is just a closet."

     The apartment had a large living room with one couch (though really more love-seat size) and a matching armchair, across from a small TV. A small kitchen with a bar like table divided the entryway from the living room area. On either side of the living room there were two bedrooms.

     “Well these two are identical, do you have a preference?” Pedro leaned his dorky head out of one of the bedrooms. Their doors were side by side, and from the hallway Balthazar could see that the one on the right had a slightly better view from the window. Balth did love to stare out the window while working on music.

     “Uh this one I guess.” Balthazar pointed, with less excitement than Pedro’s exploration of the new apartment.

     “That’s cool, I like the fact the closet is on the left in this one, works perfectly!” He smiled fully and Balthazar decided he might have to move he couldn’t handle… _I said stop flapping, it’s just a smile!_  Pedro was saying something else: “-ow many musical instruments did you bring? “Cause there isn’t much storage space here."

     “Well, all of them. But it will have to work.” _It will have to work._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Teen for the cussing conscience.  
> I'm going to try and post everyday and should work and finish by Monday. I mean it this time. This one is not going unpublished.  
> (Is literally the little train that could as I cheer myself on) I think I can, I think I...


	2. The Old Crush

     “Well I’m buggered, I think I’ll turn in for the night.” Leo stated, rising from the arm chair and headed towards the spare bed room. Then turned back and asked, “Are you sure you don’t want the bed, Bea? I could take the couch."

     “Don’t worry about me.” Beatrice said, a bit too sweetly.

     “Right…” Leo glanced meaningfully at Ben, then exited towards the spare room.

     Leo and Bea had decided to visit this last weekend before school started. Mostly to check out the boys new apartment, but also to get out of the house on Mum and Momma Duke’s anniversary.  Beatrice was curled up in Ben’s arms, her legs over his lap, only taking up one cushion of the small sofa because they were so intertwined. Pedro lounged on the other end of the couch, more comfortable with his best friends dating than Leo, Beatrice’s protective older cousin. They had just finished watching Bea and Ben’s favorite episodes of Doctor Who, and because they were Beatrice and Benedick, no one else got a say in the matter. 

     “I still can’t believe you think Tooth and Claw is the best episode.  I mean werewolves, really?" 

     “Victory of the Daleks, really?" Ben countered.  Pedro rolled his eyes. _N_ _ot that anyone would ever ask me what my favorite episode is._  

     They continued on for a few more minutes until Balthazar, who was sitting in front of the couch on the floor, sighed loudly and looked pointedly at the couple. Pedro chucked to himself, he too was a bit fed up with their faux bickering, and Bea had only arrived 6 hours ago.  He was also a bit impressed at how well Balthazar could express himself without saying a word. 

     “Right. We get it.” The extracted themselves from their tangle, but were somehow miraclously still holding hands as they headed towards Ben’s room. Beatrice turned around and put a finger to her lips.  Pedro crossed his heart, of course he wouldn’t rat her out.  

     Balthy hopped onto their spot on the sofa and tucked his knees into his chest. "So what’s your favorite episode?"

_Well, that was unexpected._ Pedro replied, "I think it’s one called Partner’s in Crime. It’s about this weird weight loss pill... but the aliens are really cute, which is different from most of the episodes. So, What do you think of Doctor Who? I know you haven’t seen that much…" 

     "I like it, though I’m a bit confused by watching the episodes out of order, but I’m intrigued by the theme music.  Did you know they used a theremin?” Pedro just stared at him. _Come on, not the musical genius here._  “Right, uh, it’s a cool instrument that you, uh, play with your hands…” Balthazar waved his hands around kind of endearingly, reddened a bit and finished with, “I’ll show you a video sometime."

     They sat in silence for a few moments, savoring it. There is just less quiet when Ben and Bea are around. 

     “What’d ya think about Leo being so protective, huh?" 

     “I don’t know…I think it’s nice, shows he cares about her,” Pedro paused, _Did he want to go there?_  “Well, you know…” the pause was even longer, he looked at Balthazar.   _As if that was going to help. Damn those eyebrows. Fine._  “I used to have a crush on Leo.”

     Pedro had wanted to tell Balthy for sometime. Balthazar had come out as gay in Year Nine and been so strong about it.  He figured Balthazar would understand, but he still waited for a reaction. 

     “So you mean…” Balthazar looked down and fiddled with his shirt cuffs. 

     “I’m pretty sure I’m bi. Hope that’s OK.”   _Balthy had helped him through that tough time last year, hopefully this news wouldn’t strain their friendship._

     “Yeah, of course it’s OK.” Balthy gave a him genuine grin, “If you need me, I’m here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doctor Who! Theremin! Alternating POVs!  
> Two chapters in 1 day!


	3. So Innocent

     Balthazar woke up slowly, there was a heavy weight on his right side and he had a horrible cramp in his neck. He blinked his eyes open, the light was too bright to be morning sunshine coming through his window. 

_Oh, No!_ He had fallen asleep in the living room, and the light was still on.   _Correction, WE fell asleep in the living room._  

     Midterms were coming up and both Pedro and Balthazar had several essays due in the next couple of days and had agreed to stay up late together to get a lot of work done.  They hadn’t agreed to do an all-nighter, but there was quite a bit of joking about if they could make it until dawn around 2:30 in the morning.  As a work break, they had put on an episode of Doctor Who (Balthazar was almost caught up now) and they must have fallen asleep out of exhaustion.  

     Pedro was asleep on him. His shoulder was tucked into Balthazar’s armpit and Pedro’s head rested gently on his chest. _What do I do? Such much more physical contact than ever before!! Well, as much as I_ _’d love to…DON_ _’T EVEN THINK THAT L-word! Right, well, I can’t sleep here.  And there’s no way it’s actually morning yet._

     Balthazar began to slowly extract himself from underneath of sleeping Pedro.  First, lift arm. Second, lean more to the side.   _It_ _’_ _s not working!_ Pedro’s head had not moved from his chest. _Alright. You can do this. Don_ _’_ _t think about him, yes, you will have to touch his face. Just do it, now._  Balthazar scooped both hands gently under Pedro’s head, turned his body to the side and slipped around and was, after one smooth motion, crouched on the floor with Pedro’s head in his hands.

_You know you can’t stay here. He’s just so beautiful…and relaxed. So innocent. The little crease between his eyebrows is gone._  

     He sighed and used one hand to grab the couch cushion that had fallen to the floor. While supporting Pedro’s head with his other hand, slipped the pillow in the gap and gently lowered his head.  Finally Balthazar tore his eyes away from Pedro’s resting form, his messy hair, his broad shoulders. 

     Balthazar worked quickly and quietly, not thinking about the boy asleep on the couch behind him.  He switched TV off, set an alarm on Pedro’s phone so he would make it to his morning class, finally got up from the floor and stretched his legs.  He paused by the light switch, looking at Pedro one last time. He sighed, _I_ _’_ _ll probably end up writing yet another song about you._  Then, the moment was over, the light was off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and the next are non-conversational chapters, but short. But pining!  
> Still on track! *woot woot*


	4. Penny for Your Lyrics

     One evening after fall break, Pedro was sitting on his bed, reading an essay for his first year history class. He had realized he just read the same sentence about five times, when he heard Balthazar start to strum some chords in his room next door.  Most of the time Balthy practiced in the soundproof rooms in music building, he didn’t like people hearing his unfinished songs.  This sounded more like a brain storming session, he was searching for notes and chords in a way that was different from songs he had already planned out

     It was nice to hear the creative process behind the genius that is one of Balthazar’s songs. _I bet he doesn_ _’t even know I’m here. Balthy probably hadn’t seen me because I’ve been hanging out in here trying to read this stupid essay.  And Ben was in Chem Lab._

     Bathazar had started singing, and not in the quiet, embarassed way he did when he sung Pedro his new songs.  He put his whole heart into what sounded like lyrics he made up on the spot.

          "If you need me, I’m here

          Always have been, 

          Always will be

          Why can’t you see"

      Then his strumming got stronger, and Balthy was suddenly very confident with his lyrics.

          "You belong with me"

_Wait, was that Taylor Swift!?_

          "And my poor heart aches

          with every step you take"

_Ok, that was definitely The Police. Oh I know this melody, what is..._

          "this…is an Ode to Pedro."

_What? Wait, what! Had I interpreted that song wrong this whole time?  Balthazar LiKES me! Balthazar likes me? Balthy…likes me._ Pedro slumped back into his pillows, and ran his hands through his hair.   _Would that be such a bad thing? Balthy is my best friend._

          "If you need my help,

          I’m here

          and now that you’re queer,

          Do you think…"

     Balthazar stopped playing and Pedro could hear the bed groan as he laid back, probably thinking about similar things. 

_Balthy. What would it be like if his first kiss with a guy was with Balthazar? Kissing Balthazar..._


	5. To Sexy for Your Shirt

     "It’s just so much harder than I thought it would be, you know?” Balthazar, who had been getting tea in the kitchen, sat down on the couch.

     “Talk to me about it.” Ursula looked at him sincerely, and put away her laptop.  

_I’m so lucky to have her as my friend.  All I do is whine, and she’s busy enough with her film project._

     “Well, I’ve just had a crush on him for so long. And we’ve been friends.  I thought I could do it, be so close to him, live with him…"

     “But…"

     “The more I’ve tried to repress my feelings for him, the stronger they’ve become.” Balthazar let out his frustration in a sigh and tucked his legs onto the couch.  “All the songs I’ve written recently have been about or for him!  With or without lyrics."

     Pedro had come out to his friends over the fall break. Balthazar had talked to him about letting one person in at a time, so that you always have support.  Pedro had talked to his brother first, but then felt so much support that over the course of about two weeks all of their closest friends knew he was bisexual.

     “You could come stay with me in Auckland for weekends and even the holidays if you don’t want to be here."

     “Thanks, that’s really lovely, but he is my best friend too and I—"

     Pedro, who had been taking a shower, walked into the living room wearing nothing but a towel.  His hair was damp and stuck up in weird directions.  He had light hairs dotting the top of his chest, and Balthazar’s mind stopped functioning entirely.

_I…I…I…I was…saying something.  Wait, HE’s saying something. Don’t fucking stare! Ok, well just a little more looking…Are they talking about Ursula’s sheets? I just…he’s so…this is the same brain that comes up with convoluted lyrics about him, seriously? He’s talking to me! AGGGHH_

     “Oh yeah, um, yeah, I can get her sheets from the drier. Yeah.” Balthazar croaked.

     And then suddenly, the spell was over. Pedro was hidden away in his room, and Ursula was talking to him.

     “You have seen him shirtless before right?” Ursula looked concerned, and Balthazar knew he probably looked like some weird combination of sick, utterly embarrassed and turned on.

     “Its, uh, been a while.  Like sometimes after football matches at Messina, but then, I could run away and hide. I can’t run away. But he, uh, doesn’t normally do that.  We, uh, uh, kinda of have a house rule about nudity because he got a bit annoyed that Ben kept running around in just his boxers.”  _Geez, heart slow down a little! That image of a slightly damp Pedro in nothing but a towel was stuck in his mind was not_ _disappearing anytime soon. Mmmmm..._  


     “Well that’s good to hear.” Ursula chuckled, “but do you think it’s possible he could be teasing you?” Balthazar looked at her questioningly, he seemed to have run out of words. “Well he was standing there for much longer than is absolutely necessary. I mean, we were talking about how long the wash cycle takes for crying out loud! But, seriously, do you think he might know about your crush?"

     “No. There’s no way. There’s no way he would ever like me back.” Balthazar said with a finality that ended the conversation.


	6. Now You Know

     Balthazar was humming the Pirates of the Caribbean theme, and Beatrice and Ben were snugged together in the armchair, asleep.  The lights were dim, they had been watching the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which somehow, Beatrice and Pedro had missed seeing in theaters. Pedro and Balthazar had commandeered the couch and still couldn’t believe that Beatrice and Benedick could fall asleep tangled and on top of each other like that, it looked so uncomfortable.  

     “Mermaids, huh?  That was a bit different from the rest of the series.  Seems like they might have run out of ideas.”  Pedro hated interrupting Balthy’s humming.   _He is adorable, I could probably just sit here and listen to him hum all night._

     “Well yeah, I mean they couldn’t continue the same storyline since they didn't have Orlando Bloom or Kiera Knightley.  But they definitely weren't out of ideas for the music!  I think this is my favorite soundtrack out of all of them.  Could you hear that guitar when they were flinging themselves from the palm tree?” Balthazar didn’t give him time to answer. _Not that I would ever interrupt him when he gets like this, his face just lights up._  “Well that’s the guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela and I think it’s really cool how they were featured in the music.  I mean they’re great outright, but their integration with the orchestral sound—"

     Pedro had moved his legs so he was sitting cross legged, facing Balthazar, mere millimeters from their legs touching.

     “What?”  _Oh shit. I was staring, wasn_ _’t I?_

     Pedro had no way to respond. _Well, might as well.  It_ _’_ _s been on my mind for ages, and Balthy was being all adorable and passionate about music.  Here goes nothing._  In one swift movement Pedro leaned forward, put a hand on Balthazar’s shoulder and kissed him. It was no more than a long peck, but in those few seconds Balthazar relaxed.   _Everything feels right._

     Then as suddenly as Pedro had commenced the kiss, Balthazar tensed up and pulled away.  He twisted his arm out from under Pedro’s hand, and stood up.   _He looks mad, was my kiss not good? Is kissing guys really that different?_

     “Well... now you know what it’s like to kiss a guy.  Goodnight!”  Balthazar thew the words at Pedro with the most forceful tone Pedro had ever heard the quiet musician use.  Balthy stormed off and slammed his door.

    _I_ _’m so confused.  I like him, I thought he likes me. But he thinks I’m EXPERIMENTING?_

     Ben opened his eyes groggily, he thought he heard a raised voices and a door slam.

     “Ugh...What’s happening?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so hard to write! Even though we don't hear from Balthazar that much, I just relate more to the shy musician POV than the outgoing footballer.  
> Also, while putting this off, I started reading the original, Much Ado About Nothing and I might have had another fic idea. Oops.


	7. I Could Be Your Dream Guy

     The next morning, Balthazar was up bright and early, not that he had gotten much sleep anyways.  A couple hours later, as he worked on editing a new composition and messed around on the internet, he heard Pedro making noise in the kitchen.  Then out of the blue, there was a knock on his door, and without waiting for a response Pedro stuck his head in.

     “I made waffle batter, but I have too much.  Do you want a waffle?"

     _What was he trying to do? Surely a waffle doesn_ _’_ _t mean anything._ Even though he knew he should eat breakfast, Balthazar replied curtly, “No."

     “Well I’ll leave it in the fridge and you can have one later if you want.”  Balthazar grunted noncommittally, and Pedro left him alone.  

     A half hour later, Balthazar’s stomach was rumbling loud enough that he couldn’t ignore it by turning up his music.  The kitchen had been quiet for several minutes so he assumed he would avoid any confrontation with Pedro. But no, there he was, sitting in the kitchen, reading a textbook.

     “Hungry now?  Don’t worry, I’ll make it for you.”  Balthazar stayed silent as Pedro made his waffle and they sat in silence as he ate.  Later, they both went off to study for exams and work on projects in different buildings. When they returned, Balthazar stayed in his room texting Ursula instead of hanging out with Pedro and Ben.  

     The next morning was similar. Pedro knocked, he had made too much strawberry smoothie to drink by himself. _I do have too eat, but this is a little odd._

“Oh, alright.”  As Balthazar walked out to the kitchen, everything seemed a little neater.   _Wow, No dirty dishes by the sink!_

Pedro noticed his expression. “I cleaned up a bit last night."

     “That’s nice.” Pedro smiled to himself, but Balthazar missed it as he looked down at his hands. _Kiss me again, Pedro.  No brain, don_ _’_ _t fucking go there.  He hurt me, stole a kiss and could never want my heart. Never._  Balthazar drank his smoothie quietly and Pedro talked about everything from the new utensil organization to the dumb kid he worked with yesterday on his history project. Some of the tension lifted.

 

 

     Pedro knocked on Balthazar’s door later that day.   _What now? I_ _’m in the middle of studying and avoiding you._

“Do you want to study outside?  Looks like you’ve been coped up in here just as long as I have and I think the sunshine would be really nice."

     Balthazar sighed, he probably could use some sun. “Alright, I’ll be ready in just a sec. I’ve got to get all my stuff together.”  He couldn’t avoid Pedro for very long, he did like hanging out with his best friend, even if his massive crush loomed overhead like an angry storm cloud.  

     In the park, lying on the blanket they studied in companionable quiet.   _This is the closest we_ _’ve been since that kiss.  Don’_ _t think about it.  Friends can be this close._ Every so often Pedro would chuckle and say, “Get this!” and proclaim some fact about law or history that he found interesting. Balthazar tried to relax, the sun felt good, and their relationship seemed to be on the mend.  But there was still a small part of him that whispered,  _kiss me again Pedro, like me back, Pedro._

 For the third morning in a row, Pedro knocked on his door.  

     “Do you want an omelette? I’ve got fixings…” Pedro stopped himself, Balthazar had gotten up quickly from his chair and his expression was hard to read.

     “What are you doing? You’re being so…nice to me. You’ve made breakfast three days in a row, cleaned the apartment…I don’t understand.”  _Are you guilty? Are you going to tell me you_ _’ve got a crush on Tony and that you’_ _re sorry?_  “What are you doing?” Balthazar repeated himself.

     "I wanted to show you that I really care about you, It’s not just about kissing you, because I want to constantly be there for you, and hold your hand and fall asleep with you…again.”  _Well shit._ "I really like you Balthy...I…need you.  Help me out here."

     Balthazar’s heart welled with emotion. _Pedro looks so damn adorable, I can_ _’_ _t be mad for long._ Balthazar closed the distance between them and kissed him softly on the lips.  Pedro’s arms encircled him, he leaned in for a longer kiss and they both finally relaxed.   They stayed wrapped together for a long time, Balthazar’s head came to rest on Pedro’s shoulder.  They couldn’t let go just yet.  

     “I’m here.” Balthazar whispered into Pedro’s shirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you need some cheese? Have some cheese.  
> I don't know, I thought it'd be nice to see Pedro being all domestic because he knew it would get Balthy's attention. Anyways, I have now finally finished a fic! Cake for me!


End file.
